Reversing her March decision, a Solano County Superior Court judge on Tuesday ruled that a 24-year-old Sacramento man charged with stabbings on an Amtrak train last year in Fairfield was incompetent to stand trial.
Apparently citing a new report by a psychologist, Judge Janice M. Williams, who had suspended criminal proceedings against Brandon Torres-Mendoza, determined that he return for a placement hearing in the coming weeks.
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During the June hearing, the judge will decide if Torres-Mendoza should be placed in MHM Services Inc. — which provides mental health services to government agencies and which operates a secure facility in Vallejo — or one of five State Hospitals in California.
During Tuesday’s hearing, Deputy Public Defender Sormeh Yasaie, substituting for Matthew Adler, represented Torres-Mendoza. Deputy District Attorney Edward Lester, substituting for Gerald J. Hall, represented the DA’s Office.
With this latest wrinkle in the case, criminal charges have been suspended against Torres-Mendoza under Penal Code section 1368, which stipulates that a defendant in a criminal case cannot be tried or punished if they are mentally incompetent. However, once restored to competency, criminal charges can be reinstated and a defendant can face further legal proceedings, including a jury trial.
Court and jail records indicate Torres-Mendoza in September 2024 appeared before Judge Kelley J. Trujillo in Fairfield as the criminal complaint was read.
At his scheduled jail arraignment, Torres-Mendoza, a previously convicted felon on probation, was charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon not a firearm, a felony, with one including a special allegation of causing great bodily injury, among other enhancements; robbery; possessing brass knuckles; and resisting arrest, the latter three charges all felonies with separate multiple enhancements.
During the arraignment, the defense indicated to the judge that Torres-Mendoza’s mental competency was in doubt. The attorney requested a “1368 doctor’s report” from a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist who interviews a suspect.
Judge Trujillo suspended proceedings against Torres-Mendoza, then assigned the case to Judge Williams, who later reviewed the report who ruled that the defendant could aid in his own defense.
He remains in Solano County Jail without bail and also on a warrant hold out of Sacramento County.
According to a Fairfield Police Department social media post, dispatchers at about 10:30 p.m. Sept. 8 received a call from an Amtrak conductor.
The train had just entered Fairfield, and a man, later identified as Torres-Mendoza, was believed to have stabbed one person on board and was possibly holding another person hostage.
The conductor requested help and told dispatchers the train would stop at the Fairfield-Vacaville Amtrak station.
While searching for the suspect, officers first found one victim, a 21-year-old man, with two stab wounds to the chest. That person was taken to a local hospital, where he reportedly was in critical condition.
“Police then encountered a man holding a knife, but quickly realized this was actually a second victim, age 24, who had taken the weapon from Torres-Mendoza and was bravely holding him at bay until officers arrived,” the post indicated.
He was arrested shortly after 11 p.m. in the 4900 block of Vanden Road, jail records indicate.
Fairfield police detectives investigated the crime, with help from Amtrak police.
Investigators confirmed that neither victim was known to Torres-Mendoza, and the motive for the stabbing was unclear at the time of his arrest.
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